Impact of eating behavior on overweight and obesity

Abstract

Introduction. According to Mexico’s National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT), obesity and overweight increased in the country’s population over the years 2012-2016, reaching 4 out of 10 adolescents and 7 out of 10 adults.

Goal. To establish a link between eating behavior and alterations in anthopometric measurements in three age groups.

Methodology. The study sample included people who chose to participate out of a population of high school and university students as well as workers. The Cuevas-Vargas Test was administered in order to measure the quality of subjects’ eating behaviors and take anthropometric measurements.

Results. Eating behavior was found to correlate with body weight and BMI in workers and high school students; other measures fell short of the threshold for significance. No evolution was found among university students. It is worth mentioning that the arithmetic mean of body weight did not change among workers.

Conclusion. Workers were the group most likely to suffer from obesity or overweight, followed by university students. For this reason, it is important to continue promoting adequate eating behavior in all age groups. Furthermore, it is important to continue to search for physiological, psychological, and social factors linked with alterations to weight, thereby preventing the development of illnesses such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.